May 11 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said on Thursday it has endorsed a request by Slovenia for a more gradual sale of Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), amending the Commission's 2013 state aid decision concerning NLB's restructuring.
"As part of the 2013 Commission decision, the Slovenian authorities had committed to sell a certain proportion of the state's shares in the bank before a specified confidential deadline," the Commission said in a statement. "Slovenia will sell a first tranche within the original deadline but requested additional time to sell a second tranche".
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Earlier this week, Slovenia's sovereign holding company SDH said it will sell a 50% stake in NLB by the end of the year, and a further 25% stake by the end of 2018.
Apart from the timing, Slovenia remains fully committed to divest the initially foreseen stake, the Commission stressed.
"In this context, Slovenia furthermore proposed an extension of the bank's acquisition ban," the Commission also said. "On the basis of the amended commitments, the Commission has concluded that the aid to NLB remains compatible with EU state aid rules".
NLB has been 100% state-owned since 2013, when the Slovenian government had to step in and recapitalise it and two other lenders - NKBM and Abanka, narrowly avoiding an international bailout.
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